it's a fine line we cross, together
by sunny-umbrella
Summary: It was the freak-quick that won championships for them. (Written for the prompt 'for you' on kagehinakagemonth on tumblr.)


**notes.** how do people do 16k fics i tried 2k and it nearly killed me

. . .

It was the freak-quick that won championships for them.

They hadn't done it in so long; after the inter-high match against Aoba Jousai, both the decoy and setter agreed to try new things, find different techniques to do so that they wouldn't have just the freak-quick to rely on.

The sudden absence of the move was funny, like losing a limb Hinata had never noticed. But throughout the time they had left, and the training camp, he had done his best to forget about it, listening to old man Ukai and keeping his eyes open through each spike he did.

It was so hard. He wanted nothing more to jump up, above the tall, tall wall and close his eyes, to trust that Kageyama would bring the ball to him. To open his eyes in time to see it blaze across the net, too fast to be saved.

But it had failed before, his mind would whisper. Abandon it, find something that'll work. So he'd push away the memories into the back of his mind, jumping up to receive different balls, attack different spikes.

Hinata told himself that a point was a point, that every spike was the same if it hit the other side of the wall. (It wasn't.) He tried to ignore the fleeting whisper of disappointment when he whacked the ball inside the white lines, feeling his hand sting. (Not the same.)

In literature class, they had been reading Greek mythology. One of them had mentioned the famous Icarus, with his brilliant father Daedalus, escaping their prison by collecting bird feathers and melting wax to create wings.

He needed to build his own wings, to break out of the wall. He needed to reach the sun, feel the glow of victory, see what the Small Giant had seen on the court for himself. He couldn't let Kageyama do all the work for him; Hinata needed to get better on his own as well. And the freak-quick would do nothing but hold them both back.

He collected his feathers, getting tips and techniques from old man Ukai and the other setters from the school. The freak-quick was one he didn't use in building his wings for championships. It wouldnt be of much use against teams that knew how it worked, and its use had been exhausted a long time ago.

But of all the times that Kageyama had chosen to bring it back, it was the last point of championships. Not the intense match against Aoba Jousai, not the exhilarating battle against Nekoma, both with plenty of points at which the freak-quick could've changed the tide easily.

He had chosen the finals.

It had run over into an unthinkable third set, both teams within a point or two of each other at any given moment. Every point was taken with a vicious rally, back and forth, back and forth; there was too much at risk not to dive for the ball, too many matches struggled for before this to even think about defeat.

They had gotten to a deuce. The other team was up a point, then Karasuno, the other again, then them again. Nishinoya had saved at least a third of them, wild and crazy saves for a ball that had seemed doomed to fall on their side. He saved another, and Tanaka had slammed it past their defenders to give the team the one-point lead that they needed.

Another match point.

Hinata swore his arms had been coated in lead, legs wrapped in chains. He had flown too much; the sun was melting his waxen wings, and he was soon going to lose them entirely.

The serve was thrown, hit―and with that, they set out to win the battle once and for all.

One more, one more. Chance ball, nice receive, one more, one more.

'One more!'

He vaguely remembered screaming that, running parallel to the net, his markers scrambling to catch up. He could see everything, everyone, and as he prepared his jump up to spike―

'Dumbass, close your eyes!' Kageyama roared, somewhere to the left of him, and Hinata: he couldn't, he needed to track the ball, avoid the hands and the wall―

But his body screamed for a victory, his mind shunted away as his instincts made him squeeze his eyes shut, jump up as high as he could manage, bring his hand down at the opening he had seen―

―his hand was stopped by the heft of the ball for a moment, and he forced it through the narrow crack he knewwould be there―

―Hinata was falling, his wings scattered into feathers, he wouldn't be able to fly now―

―a hollow thud. The ball had hit the court, which side?―

―and now he could feel the court as well, rolling, tumbling to soften the impact―

―the whistle. He opened his eyes, disoriented.

He was looking at his team, all facing the other side. No one was moving. There was no clue to where the ball had gone.

He glanced over to the other side, where the team was breathing heavily, looking over their shoulders at the end of the court so he looked further―

―seeing the ball bounce gently against the wall.

A roar of triumph went up, and Hinata found himself hoisted back into the air, hands pushing him into the sky that he had fallen from. Screams, sobs, hoarse yelling, too many sounds to understand came from, and all he wanted to do was ask Kageyama what the hell was that?

He got his chance after the awards ceremony, after the celebration, when they had gotten back to the hotel they had been staying at for the championship. They were rooming together, so when they had changed, showered, collapsed into their respective beds, he turns over to look the setter in the eye.

'Why.' He had promised. He had promised. 'Why did you do the freak-quick.' He pushes back the happiness that he had felt when the ball came into his palm, ignores the sting that lingers in his hand.

Kageyama stares back, a puzzled look on his face. 'Because I thought it was the right thing―'

'Bullshit. We talked, remember? We said we weren't going to―'

'I also said that I'd do anything not to let our team lose again.' The setter was faltering a bit, his voice rising with emotion.

'But―' he can't get the words out, dammit. 'But why the last point? You risked it on that?'

Kageyama's ears darken to a flushed pink. 'The last point? We needed it.'

'You know what―'

'I did it for you, dumbass!' Kageyama blurts out.

Hinata's mind short-circuits, and he suddenly can't remember what he was going to say. 'Eh? For me?'

'I-I mean,' Kageyama's previous calm has been dissipated completely. 'Not like that! It's like, er―'

'For me? How does that make it alright? What do you―'

'N-nevermind!' A faint tinge of pink is dusted over the setter's cheeks, and he turns away from Hinata completely.

They lay like that for a couple minutes, stewing in their own thoughts. Hinata is completely confused. The freak-quick was for him? For the team? Kageyama did that for the team and him, or was it just a happy coincidence that the last point was good for both?

The light between them is still on, so he's reaching to turn it off when Kageyama shifts back to face him, a determined look on his face. It clicks off, and they're in darkness.

The silence stretches out a bit longer, and Kageyama clears his throat awkwardly.

'Hinata, I need to say this, so shut your mouth and listen until I'm done, okay?' Hinata nods, then remembers that Kagegama can't see it.

'Y-yeah.'

Another clearing of the throat. 'Well. Um. I wasn't exactly planning to bring it back, but that last set, I was going on instinct. As I saw the ball coming, and you running around, it reminded me of the middle-school tournament.'

Hinata sucks in a breath. His first official match. The one he had lost to Kageyama in.

Kageyama goes on. 'I remembered the one quick you did for that faulty receive, the one you ran across the net for, the one that was called out. Your speed, your desperation, it was all like the beginning.

'I couldn't just set to you the normal way. It felt as if you were reverting back to the way you played in that first match, and while that's not terrible, I felt somewhere that you'd end up missing the set. That would make you blame yourself the rest of the match, for losing your new training when you needed it the most.'

Hinata wants to protest, but something tells him that that would've happened. He was tired, then, and he remembers the feeling of his wings melting away.

'And thinking of the beginning made me remember the freak-quick. I wanted to do it so bad, to go back to the beginning for all the matches, when we were down points and because we hadn't done it at nationals yet.

'But it was only that last point where I saw you deteriorate like that. So I called it out to you to see what you'd do.'

By now, his eyes have adjusted, and he can see Kageyama looking at him steadily.

'You closed your eyes, Hinata, before you jumped.' Kageyama blinks.

'And that's why the freak-quick came back today.'

Hinata's mind is still slow from the initial shock of the previous conversation, and he tries to gather his thoughts together. 'Then why..why did you say it was for me?'

Even in the dark, he can see the flush that spreads across the setter's face. 'That was, well, um..' Kageyama squeezes his eyes shut, then blinks them open, clearly not at ease. He mumbles something under his breath, and Hinata strains to hear what he's saying.

'What are you saying?' Kageyama darkens even further.

'I-I said I like you, Hinata Shouyo. That's why I tossed to you.'

Hinata feels like the breath's been knocked out of him.

Kageyama splutters some more, gradually getting more and more incoherent. 'W-well, as a teammate, too, of course! I like all of our teammates, but not Tsukishima, and I like volleyball, in a different way, and,' the setter finally buries his face in his hands. 'This isn't how I wanted to tell you,' he whispers hoarsely, and Hinata wants to go over and hug him, he looks so miserable.

His thought process seems to be still messed up, because he manages makes it out of his bed and over to Kageyama's before his legs buckle out from under him. He ends up awkwardly half-kneeling, half-standing at the side of the bed, near the top of the bed.

'Kageyama,' Hinata croaks out, and his arms won't move, so he leans down and rests his head near the other boy's chest. 'Bakageyama, look at me.'

Kageyama cautiously lowers his hands, and Hinata was going to hug him, but now his arms are too tired and so he tries to press his forehead against the setter's. 'Try' being the key word; he misses spectacularly, ending up hitting his forehead against the other's nose.

Kageyama jerks back, grabbing his nose and Hinata tries to do the same to his forehead, falling onto the floor again. He groans.

'Hinata? Hinata, you alright?' Kageyama's head pokes out from above the bed, still holding his nose, and Hinata can't help but laugh. A confession, and now this.

'Hey, Kageyama, you know what?'

His brows furrow, but he answers. 'Yeah, dumbass, what?'

Hinata can barely get the words out, he's shaking so hard with laughter. 'I think I'm falling for you.'

A look of outrage crosses Kageyama's face, and he puts down his hand. 'I just confessed to you, and in return, you head-butt my face and try to pun your way out of it?'

Hinata pulls himself up to his knees, still grinning, still lightheaded. 'Well then..' he presses his lips to Kageyama's, carefully avoiding the nose. He pulls away hastily, trying to gauge the setter's reaction. Kageyama's eyes widen, then return to his normal, slightly irritated expression. 'Dumbass, you're practically asleep already! Don't do things like that when you're not thinking straight!'

Thinking straight. Hinata giggles deliriously at the thought. After the last five minutes, he can't say that either of them are.

Kageyama seems to struggle with something, before giving an irritated huff. 'You must be really falling for me, if you missed that bad the first time. You're practically dead on your feet.' Kageyama sits up and pulls the blanket aside, making room for Hinata, motioning to him. He gratefully crawls into the space, too tired to protest. The blanket settles back over them, and Hinata can feel Kageyama pull him closer. 'It's still cold in the spring. You better not get sick now; we still have practice this week, dumbass.'

Hinata opens his mouth to protest, but Kageyama sets his chin on top of Hinata's head, and sleepiness washes over him again. He yawns, and settles into the warmth that Kageyama surrounds him with. It's warmer than sleeping alone, that's for sure.

He figures he'll figure out what he'll do next in the morning. In the morning, he'll probably be mortified at what he did, Hinata muses.

He yawns again, and settles down to sleep. The freak-quick, he thinks drowsily, seems to wins more than just points.

Maybe that feather was usable after all.


End file.
